The Sky is Crying
by Mitsukai
Summary: Kiba hates the rain for a multitude of reasons. But when he finds Sakura crying in the street, maybe he can learn to love in the one thing he hates the most. One-shot, KibaSaku.


**_The Sky is Crying_**

**Disclaimer: **Naruto and all its characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto. As much as I'd like to own it, I don't.

**Author's Note: **Uh...yeah. This is a KibaSaku one-shot, and yes, I know that the pairing is totally crack. I just wanted to write a fanfiction between the two after I saw this _amazing _fanart on deviantArt, but I unfortunately forgot the URL. Wah... Anyhow, like in my other fanfiction, I'm pretty much neutral about this pairing. I notice that I tend to write the characters OOC-ish, and I'm really sorry about that, but I'm sure that everyone has their tender moments. Oh, God, I just realized that I'm writing sappy romances... I hope that, one day, I will move on from these kinds of stories and into totally awesome action-packed adventures! Haha, yeah right.

Enjoy!

* * *

Inuzuka Kiba hated the rain.

It obscured his unusually strong sense of smell which he depended on. It made the day seem so dreary and dull. It covered the ground with water, making the surface slippery to walk and run on. It was like an extra shower. It was wet. It made him wet. It made his hair stick to his face and droop down out of its usual messy hairdo.

What Kiba hated the most about rain was that it reminded him of what his mother said when he went through his first rainstorm. "The sky is crying."

Much like rain, the young Inuzuka hated crying. It was a sign of weakness. It was hard to stop. It was wet. It made him wet. The worst thing about crying was when someone else was spilling their tears…and he couldn't do anything to make them stop.

So when Inuzuka Tsume told her son that the sky was crying, the boy consequently hated the rain. He had told her that if the sky was crying, then something really bad must have happened. In response, Tsume had just laughed.

Kiba still believed the odd little idea that he had conjured as a child. Of course, he would never admit that.

The ninja shook the thoughts aside as he walked through the wet empty streets of Konohagakure. Such childish thoughts would hinder his performance as a shinobi of the Leaf. And the others would laugh at him if they knew about his dislike of something as trivial as the rain.

A droplet landed on his nose, drawing his gaze upwards. The teenager frowned. "The sky is crying," he repeated his mother's words to no one in particular with a sigh. Kicking a stone through a puddle, he continued on his way to the Hokage's office.

_

* * *

What's this? It's…locked?_ He knocked loudly on the door, not caring whether or not he was rude. 

He received no answer.

_Humph. Tsunade's probably just out getting more sake. She probably forgot that she told me to meet her here for my next mission. But what about Shizune and all the other workers?_ Pondering the question, he trudged sullenly back to his house.

It was still raining.

_Hm…maybe I should visit Hinata-chan while I'm out and already wet…_ Kiba wrinkled his nose at that. He **hated **being wet…especially when it was from the rain.

_There it is again- the whole 'I hate the rain' thing! It's just rain! _he scolded himself. It was true- he hated the rain, but he also hated the fact that he hated the rain.

_What the hell, I just confused myself. _He shook his head at his own puzzlement. Walking to the Hyuuga compound, he wondered how he did it.

The ninken master still hadn't answered his own question as he knocked on the door of the building. Hinata's younger sister, Hanabi, opened the door, eyeing him in a suspicious manner.

"Um…hi. May I see your sister?" he requested with his best attempt at manners. This was, after all, the Hyuuga clan, the oldest and one of the most powerful families in the history of Konoha.

"She's not here."

"Oh… Well…can you tell her that Kiba came by? And that I wanted to say hello?"

"Sure," replied the younger girl, closing the door as he walked away.

He sighed. Not only was it raining, but no one was in. "Everything is going so wonderfully well for you today, isn't it, Kiba?" he muttered to himself.

It was getting dark. The boy sighed once more. He didn't want to go home just yet, even if it meant standing in the rain. His mother would yell at him for staying out too late, and then Hana would scold him for making her watch over Akamaru for him longer than he promised.

After weighing his choices, he figured that a couple more hours wouldn't make things much worse, and that maybe a walk around the village would make him feel better.

* * *

It didn't.

All during his stroll, he saw more rain, more wetness, and no one else. And somehow, he ended up staring at the huge gate that had long served as the grand entrance to Konoha, with its now peeling paint and splintering wood. Sighing yet again, he turned to finally walk home when he heard a sob.

Following a short mental debate with his conscience, he decided to go see who it was. It would be terribly rude and inconsiderate if he just ignored someone who was crying and walked right by.

With a forced kind smile, he cautiously trudged to the tearful person. His smile disappeared and his eyes widened when he caught sight of pink hair.

"Sakura?" he asked with a stunned tone.

The kunoichi looked up to meet his gaze, and Kiba noticed her swollen and bloodshot eyes. "K-kib-ba?" she managed between tears with a stutter to rival that of Hinata's.

"What happened?" he inquired softly.

She had stopped sobbing, but tears were still running down her cheeks, and she was taking deep breaths. She tried to assure him, "N-nothing."

"It can't be just nothing. You're crying your eyes out," he pointed out, the worry evident in his voice. He kneeled down to her level.

Sakura shook her head violently. "I don't want to talk about it…"

"Sakura," he soothed, rubbing her back gently, "it's okay to tell me. Just don't avoid your problems."

"O-okay…" She paused, and then gave her simple answer.

"He died."

"Who died?"

"Sasuke…kun. He died…saving us from Orochimaru." She stopped again, looking to Kiba to see if he wanted her to no longer continue the story. He made no indication that he did.

"Orochimaru was coming at us, me and Naruto, and we were both low on chakra. Neither of us had the strength to move on. The whole time we were fighting him, Sasuke-kun simply watched passively. Then…when he saw that we were about to be killed, he stepped in and fought Orochimaru in our stead. They killed each other."

Sakura bit her lip, trying to keep in her tears. It was to no avail. Soon, she was sobbing all over again.

Kiba asked with a slightly pained voice, "You really loved him, didn't you?"

After a minute or so, the girl once again stopped crying and hesitated with her response, "I…I did, I guess, but not in the way most people think. I learned that…that my interest in him was just a schoolgirl crush… nothing more. But as I spent time with him and Naruto…as Team 7…I became to love him…as my brother…and one of my best friends…"

The Inuzuka looked up in surprise. Everyone had always thought of Haruno Sakura as the kunoichi with a major crush on Uchiha Sasuke, overshadowed by her stronger and more prominent teammates, the aggressive rival of Yamanaka Ino. But she had proven herself strong, indeed, training under Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage, and perfecting her already impressive chakra control. She had turned out to be quite the ninja…with a lingering crush on the Uchiha, despite his treachery. Or so everyone thought.

Realizing that he was staring, Kiba turned away with a blush to match the fang markings on his cheek.

"I'm…sorry…about Sasuke," he said quietly. The shinobi became dismayed when he spotted more droplets staining her face. He didn't want to make her start crying again.

She mumbled, "It's okay. It wasn't your fault…" The pink-haired girl trailed of before going on. "It was just that…we had gone to get him to return to Konoha. We were ready to die for the sake of the mission. He was the friend of both of us- me and Naruto…and we loved him. We would have given our lives for him…but in the end…he gave his life for us…"

Suddenly louder, with her tears flowing freely, she cried out sorrowfully, "It's not fair! It's not right! This wasn't supposed to happen! We were Team 7…and now…all we are… We're just…" Sakura lost all her speech to violent sobbing.

Kiba was immensely shocked. The boy had always viewed her as one of the strongest kunoichi ever from the Leaf, and now, he was witnessing her crying. _This…isn't right_. Without thinking about his actions, he wrapped his arms around the mourning girl and began gently rocking her in a slow motion.

He cast his gaze towards the heavens. "It's still raining." She glanced up when he said this, as though it was the first time she noticed the water falling from the sky.

"My okaa-san always said that when it rains, it means the sky is crying. If the sky is crying, something bad must have happened." He closed his eyes, reminiscing his childhood days. Reopening them, he said, "Don't cry. You did your best to save him, but it was his choice. The sky has already shed enough tears for his death, but yours make it begin to overflow. You're going to drown in your tears."

He brushed the drops from her face, tilting her head upwards. "Can you smile for me?"

Sakura was unsure of what to do, but after a moment, she cracked a small, yet sincere, smile.

"Atta girl." Kiba hugged her, surprising himself with his movements. He was even more astonished when she hugged him back.

"Thank you," she said gratefully, wiping away the remaining tears. "I needed that."

"No problem." The boy beamed happily at her. She smiled back. They stared at each other for what felt like a lifetime.

He broke off their contact first. "Sorry," he mumbled.

"No," she interrupted his apology. "Don't be." And the pink-haired kunoichi kissed him.

At first, he was unresponsive, wide-eyed, but he began to deepen the kiss. He grinned into the kiss, showing his fangs. Sakura could do nothing but grin back.

Once they had parted, she repeated, "Thank you," and left, giggling like a young girl at Kiba's disappointed face. She called over her shoulder, "Meet me at 5:30 PM tomorrow by the gate! Maybe we can go get something to eat!"

"It's a date!" he shouted in reply. Both of their smiles widened.

When Sakura left his eyesight, Kiba looked up to the sky once more, thinking about their kiss in the rain. Cliché, yes, he had to admit it was, but a completely awesome experience. There was absolutely no better description for it.

It was still raining. "I change my mind," he said quietly. "I love the rain…even if it means that the sky is crying."

* * *

**Apologies from the Author:** I'm sorry to all you Sasuke fans out there for killing Sasuke off, but it was essential for the story. I realize that it's politcally incorrect for Naruto to be low on chakra, seeing as he does have an infinite amount at his disposal, so I'm sorry for that too. I'm also sorry for all the mistakes I made and if I wrote too OOC for your tastes. And if I misused the Japanese language. I really apologize that what happens in the story is a little sudden, and it really bugs me about that, but I don't want to write a multichapter story on this because it'll end up really long and full of utterly pointless crap.

**Thank you very much for reading!**


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